The government has no interest in decriminalizing prostitution or making it legal, but would rather “abolish it to the extent possible,” the justice minister says.

But Peter MacKay warned on Monday that the country could be forced into decriminalization if the government’s proposed prostitution bill, known as C-36, doesn’t become law by the end of the year.

Last December, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the country’s prostitution laws were unconstitutional because they did not protect sex workers’ Charter right to “security of the person.” It gave the government one year to come up with a new law.

“If we do not respond legislatively within the year, most adult prostitution-related activities will be decriminalized,” MacKay warned the House of Commons justice committee, which is holding hearings on the government’s proposed law.

“For our government to do nothing was never an option,” he said, because the government does not accept “the proposition that prostitution is inevitable and therefore we must decriminalize and regulate.”

“We believe the exploitation (of women) would become, in fact, worse,” MacKay replied. “No one raises their children to be prostitutes — that’s not something people aspire to. We want to help individuals exit prostitution.”

MacKay’s defence of the Conservative government bill came during a rare summer session of the justice committee, which is holding day-long meetings this week to hear from those for and against the new bill.

MacKay has said the government is willing to consider amendments, which would be debated by the Commons when MPs return from their summer break in September.

In his committee appearance, he was clear on the bill’s aims. “Bill C-36 does not seek to allow or facilitate the practice of prostitution. On the contrary ― its goal is to reduce the demand for prostitution with a view to discouraging entry into it, deterring participation in it, and ultimately abolishing it to the extent possible.”

Bill C-36 targets those who pay for sex with heavy fines and possible jail time. It would also put limits on what sort of advertising sex workers can use, and make it illegal for prostitutes to solicit sex in a public place where children can reasonably be expected to be present, such as at a mall or school yard.

But under the government’s proposal, it appears much will be left to the courts to decide. When department officials testified before the committee, MPs were told that judges will be left to decide whether some individual cases merit punishment for sex workers.

The prostitution bill may end up back in front of the Supreme Court, but MacKay was confident the new law won’t be struck down as the old one was. The legislation went through a thorough vetting by justice department officials and in their opinion, the new law is constitutional, he said.

The department appears to have advised MacKay that there is no breach of a sex worker’s Charter rights, which was the problem in the previous bill.

“There are those who disagree with this approach (in the bill), and so they may very well choose to challenge the law. It’s not uncommon — I’ll put it that way,” MacKay said after the meeting.

“We feel it is Charter-compliant.”

He dismissed the idea of the government itself sending the bill to the high court for a legal opinion.

Highlights of the hearings:

MPs on the House of Commons justice committee are holding four full days of summer meetings to review the government’s proposed prostitution bill. Here are some things to know about day one (and a bonus bullet about day two):

Too blunt an instrument?

Criminal lawyers testifying before the committee suggested the Criminal Code may be too blunt an instrument to deal with what the government argues is a larger social issue around prostitution. “It’s aspirational to say the least that we would ever eliminate prostitution,” Justice Minister Peter MacKay told reporters. “But clearly the intent here is to limit the causality, the choice if there is a choice, there.”

$20 million

The federal government is attaching $20 million over five years for programs that are designed to help those sex workers who want out of the business. The government hasn’t finalized details of how the money will be doled out, or how much will be made available each year.

Attacking advertisers?

The proposed law sets limits on how sex workers advertise their services, making it illegal in some cases. The law would extend to online advertisements as well, but there are questions about how police would go after ads hosted on websites based outside of Canada. Conservative MP Bob Dechert suggested the law would allow a sex worker to create his or her own website to advertise services.

Survey results

The government ran an online consultation about its bill, which garnered more than 31,000 responses. The $175,000 poll has yet to be released — and won’t be until at least the end of the month. (All public opinion polls the government pays for must be posted publicly within six months.) MacKay said Monday that the department won’t release it early. According to French-language daily La Presse, the results may not help the government’s argument for speedy passage of the bill.

What’s next?

The committee is set to hear Tuesday from Calgary’s police chief, an Ottawa sex workers’ group, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and Jose Mendes Bota, a member of Portugal’s parliament who specializes in combatting violence against women.

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